The Crash Dragon
by Rikudou Shinigami
Summary: After Lisanna's "death", Natsu felt weak and wanted to become stronger. Taken on a two year training trip by Gildarts, Natsu will no longer be the Salamander of Fairy Tail, he will become The Crash Dragon, and he will return stronger than any of his friends thought possible. Will be Natsu/Erza but might add Lisanna later if you guys want. Natsu might be OOC in first chapter.
1. Prologue

It was a rainy day in Magnolia, a week after the death of Lisanna Strauss. No one could believe that the cheerful and sweet Strauss sister died so soon, at such a young age. Mirajane stayed cooped up in her house, crying from the guilt of believing that it was her fault. Elfman became withdrawn lately, blaming himself for killing his little sister. No one had seen much of Natsu lately, he didn't even attend Lisanna's funeral, something that surprised everyone, as they thought that he would want to pay his respects. Not even Natsu's friend Happy knew the whereabouts of Natsu.

* * *

A certain scarlet-haired knight was walking down the street, using an umbrella to cover herself from the rain. She was just passing by the graveyard when something caught her eye, a damp mop of pink hair.

"_Natsu? What is he doing here?" _She mentally asked herself as she turned and walked in the direction of the Dragon Slayer. She noticed that he was in his usual sleeveless vest, and had nothing to cover himself from the rain, _"Isn't he cold?" _she idly thought, before she noticed the name on the gravestone that was in front of him, making her stop in her tracks.

Lisanna Strauss.

"_He came to visit her grave?" _Erza thought in sadness, she wondered how Natsu must be feeling right now. Lisanna was his best friend, in fact, now that she thought about it, she was the only friend he had in the Guild. She felt a pang in her chest when she thought about how the death of his friend must be affecting the boy. Usually if he was feeling down, Erza would just beat him instead of helping him with his problem, and then Lisanna would come and cheer him up. But that couldn't happen now.

Erza decided that the best thing to do right now was to do what Lisanna would have done, instead of what she would normally do. She walked up to Natsu until she was standing right next to him, and noticed that his clothes were completely soaked. She frowned when she noticed his dull, empty eyes as he stared blankly at Lisanna's gravestone.

"Hey Natsu." She said softly, but got no response from the pink haired boy.

"Natsu?" She asked again, placing a hand on his shoulder. Still no response.

She sighed. She turned to leave, but then she heard Natsu's voice.

"I-If… If I was stronger… do you think I could have gone with them?" His voice was hoarse and weak, clearly he hadn't spoken to anyone for a while. Erza frowned. "Do you think she'd still be here with me… with us… if I was stronger?"

Erza turned to look at him and was taken aback by the look on his face. His eyes were lost, and he looked confused about what he should do. She had never seen him look so defeated. "Natsu… You can't blame yourself for her de-"

"No!" Natsu shouted, his eyes becoming misty, "It's my fault! Before they left, Lisanna asked me if I wanted to go with them, but Mirajane said that I was too weak… if… if I was stronger… I could have gone with them… and Lisanna would still be here… with me."

Natsu turned around and faced Erza, causing the red haired girl's eyes to widen when she saw his appearance. His eyes had deep bags underneath them, his skin was pale, and his cheeks were hollow.

"Natsu… how long have you been here?" She asked in shock.

"… Wednesday…" Natsu whispered after a slight pause.

"W-Wednesday!? You've been sitting here for four days!?" Erza exclaimed in shock, "What did you do about food? Where did you sleep, Natsu?"

"…n't…" Natsu mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" Erza asked as she kneeled down beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"I… I didn't." Natsu whispered, "I didn't sleep or eat… I just want her back." Natsu sobbed, "She was my best friend! Why did she have to die!? She promised that she'd come back, so why!? Why did she leave me!?" Natsu screamed in frustration, burying his face into the crook of Erza's neck.

"Shh, Shh, it's okay Natsu. Just let it out." Erza whispered in Natsu's ear as she rubbed his back and consoled him.

It took about ten minutes before Natsu stopped crying over the death of his friend, and Erza couldn't blame him. She had an idea of what he was going through, due to what happened with Jellal, even though he didn't die. She made up her mind right then and there, she would help Natsu. There was no way in hell that she would let him go through what she went through.

She slowly stood up with up Natsu and placed her arm around his shoulder when he stumbled a bit, _"He must have stayed sitting down these past four days." _She thought.

"Come on Natsu, let's get you to my home. I'll take you to Fairy Hills, and if anyone has a problem with it, I'll take responsibility." She commented, getting a weak nod from him.

As they walked away from the graveyard and into the streets of Magnolia, they both failed to notice an orange haired man watching them with a serious look on his face.

"_He wants to get stronger, eh?" _A smile made its way onto the man's face, _"I guess I've found an apprentice."_

* * *

**Okay, so for those of who are wondering why I'm posting a new story instead of updating my old ones, it's because I think I'll forget this if I don't write and post it. I'm almost done with Natsu Uchiha and halfway through Shards: Enclose. Going to start on Rise of the Kaiser tomorrow.**


	2. Proposition

**So here's the new chapter for The Crash Dragon, hope you guys like it. Although I have to admit that the end was very rushed, and for that, I apologize.**

* * *

Erza sighed as she watched Natsu sleep. Just as she thought, some of the girls tried to tell her it was against the rules for boys to be at Fairy Hills, but as soon as they saw how Natsu looked they stayed quiet and let the Titania carry the Dragon Slayer to her room.

After they arrived at her room, Erza had Natsu sit at her table while she made him something to eat, which the Dragon Slayer was grateful for, before she lead him to her room and let him sleep on her bed. Natsu practically passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Erza absently stroked Natsu's hair as she thought about the look on Natsu's face earlier.

"_He looked so defeated, completely different from how he usually acts… just how hard did Lisanna's death hit you, Natsu?" _Erza thought with a frown on her face. _"I never want to see that look on your face again, the Natsu I know should never look like that." _

"_Just how am I going to help you, Natsu?" _Erza thought in distress.

**Fairy Tail Guild**

The third guild master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar was about to lock up the guild doors for the night, before he heard footsteps approaching him. Makarov is an extremely short, elderly man. He has black eyes and is growing bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair. He also has a thick white mustache. He has a black stamp of Fairy Tail that covers his entire chest area. On his first appearance, he was shown dressing in a casual manners which consist of a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail stamp in the middle which covered by an orange hoodie. His attire was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue stripes designed jester hat.

He turned his head and saw Gildarts Clive, the guild's Ace, who interrupted his 100 year mission and returned after he heard about the death of Lisanna Strauss. Gildarts is a tall and muscular man with shoulder-length reddish orange hair, which is kept slicked back, and some stubble around his mouth and on his chin. Gildarts' attire is simple and practical, consisting of a dark, tattered cape over his bare chest, with a high collar and armored plates on the shoulders, held closed by a belt and usually covering his whole figure, and loose dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard with plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots

"Hello Master." Gildarts said.

"Hello Gildarts, might I ask what you're doing here so late? Usually you would be at your house or leave to continue your 100 year mission." Makarov stated, wondering what was going on.

"Well, there's something I want to talk to you about." Gildarts said with a serious expression on his face, something that was rare for the orange haired man.

Makarov raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? And what exactly do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk to you about Natsu."

**The Next Day**

Natsu groaned as his eyes fluttered open, before he shut them when light hit his face. He felt a soft surface underneath him and a warm blanket covering him, and wondered where he was. Memories from last night flooded his brain and his eyes widened, _"Erza…"_

He heard the door open and saw Erza walk in. He saw a look of surprise cross her face before she smiled at him, "Glad to see you're up, Natsu. I thought you were going to sleep all day."

Natsu chuckled forcefully, "Yeah, well I feel like I could."

Erza frowned when she heard Natsu's fake laugh, _"He must still be feeling depressed." _She gave him a small smile, "Come along, Natsu, we're going to go get some breakfast."

"O-Okay, Erza." Natsu said before he got out of Erza's bed, noticing how wet it was. He turned to Erza with an apologetic and slightly fearful look, "S-Sorry about your bed Erza, I'll clean it up." He said before Erza waved him off.

"Don't worry about it Natsu, I'll clean it up later. Besides, I let you sleep in my bed so you shouldn't feel bad about it." Erza spoke softly, not wanting Natsu to feel worse than he already does.

"Okay, Erza." Natsu gave her a small smile before he walked towards the door.

Erza smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's go to the guild. I'm sure people want to know how you're doing, and if Gray tries to fight you, I'll have your back."

As they walked out of Fairy Hills and towards Magnolia, Erza kept glancing in Natsu's direction and frowned when she noticed that he still had a slightly lost look in his eyes.

They walked for about 15 minutes before Erza stopped in front of a café, prompting Natsu to stop as well. Natsu breathed in the sweet aroma coming from the café and felt his mouth water at the smell. He followed Erza inside and they looked at the menu on the wall before they ordered their food.

They sat down at a table and waited for their food to be prepared. Natsu forced a smile, "Thanks for letting me stay with you last night, if you didn't I would probably still be at the graveyard." His voice cracked a little at the end.

Erza frowned, "It was no problem Natsu, it was the least I could do for you." She said softly, placing her hand on his.

Natsu gave her another forced smile, though this one appeared to be a bit genuine. Natsu looked down at the food that was set in front of him, and whispered "Thank you Erza, thank you so much."

**Later**

The Guild was back to its usual rowdy self, though you could tell that people were still mourning the death of Lisanna. Currently, the Guild was having one of their infamous brawls, and that was the scene that Natsu and Erza walked in on.

They both greeted their guild mates and headed over to a table and sat down, "Well, looks like the Guild hasn't changed much." Natsu commented.

"Yeah, though they were really sad, I suppose they decided that Lisanna would want them to be happy."

Natsu looked down, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Hey guys!" They heard a familiar voice, and they were both surprised to see Mirajane with a kind smile on her face wearing a frilly maroon dress.

"Mira?" Natsu asked incredulously.

"Yep!" Mira said in a cherry voice, "I didn't know you guys were a couple!"

"W-What!?" Erza said in disbelief. "We're not a couple!"

Mirajane giggled, "Oh don't worry Erza, I was only kidding!"

Before Erza or Natsu could give a retort, they heard the Master's voice coming from right behind them, "Ah, Natsu! Just the person I was looking for!"

They both turned and saw the Master wearing his usual outfit, and saw that while he looked laidback, there was a seriousness in his eyes that instantly made their backs straighten. "What do you need Master?" Natsu asked nervously.

"Follow me to my office." Makarov said before he turned on his heel and walked towards his office, Natsu trailing behind him.

When they entered his office, Natsu was surprised to see Gildarts there, who greeted Natsu with a smile on his face. "Hello there, Natsu."

"What are you doing here Gildarts?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I have a proposition for you. Something that will help you get stronger.

"You can help me get stronger? How!?" Natsu practically yelled.

Gildarts smirked, "How would you like to become my apprentice?"


End file.
